Maleya woke up at noon. This didn't surprise her, even though she had slept early and napped the day before. It was quite normal for her to sleep for ages if no one woke her up.
She had about four hours before her brother came home, so she got up and ate breakfast after performing her morning rituals. She was more than slightly peeved that her room was still quite cold. She would have to mention that to her dad. Maybe the heater was broken or something.
Once she was done eating breakfast, which comprised of fruit loops and a hell of a lot of milk, she removed the clean dishes from the dishwasher and put the dirty ones in. She stretched a bit when that was done, still feeling quite heavy from all that sleep. The headache wasn't acting up yet, but she was still feeling a bit feverish and dizzy. She tried not to dwell on it too much.
The next thing she did was fold the clean laundry. She'd gotten the basket from the laundry room and sat on the couch in the living room, watching the news as she folded.
She always made sure to do some sort of housework when she stayed home from school. Her mother already thought she was useless, and she tried her best not to give her any more excuse to chastise and berate her. At least now she'd have something to say in her own defence.
The news was depressing, to say the least. The war in the Middle East, another oil spill, terrorist attacks… She turned it off when she felt too affected and focused solely on getting the task at hand done as soon as possible.
Jack was relieved to see that she was awake. She had slept like a rock. He had been running out of things to do and was about to tear his hair out from boredom. How could someone sleep so much? He had no idea, but he was just glad that the wait was over.
However, seeing her do even more mundane tasks just had him exhale sharply in irritation. Where was the fun in doing dishes and folding clothes? Sure, he had a laugh when he saw her eat Fruit Loops- yet another unexpected thing- but his mood had gone downhill from there.
What was even worse was that she was still in her nightdress. It felt… strange to look at her while she wore it. It almost seemed out of place; a cute, childish dress on someone so adult-like and plain.
Regardless, he stayed close by and checked out the rest of the house while she continued folding clothes. There was nothing to do but get used to his surroundings.
Before long, she had finished and begun heading up to her room. Jack followed, hovering off the ground and making sure not to touch the railings. He was a few steps behind her.
When she made it to her room, she began pulling off her nightdress. Jack had been at her doorway by then, and quickly turned around, crying loudly. He had not been expected that, but thankfully he had turned around just in time.
He heard plenty of shuffling and swearing behind him, but he wasn't ready to turn around then. It wasn't until he felt the familiar pang of pain that he realized she had walked through him. He felt something akin to fire blaze through his body momentarily, and it took him a few seconds to catch his breath. She could pull out such a strange reaction from him, he worried if he'd ever get used to it.
Following her down the stairs, he saw she was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a red and black flannel shirt. She was holding her keys in one hand, and he figured she was going out for a walk. Intrigued, he followed her.
She'd lit a cigarette before the front door even closed. He shook his head, lecturing her out loud on the health effects of smoking, though he knew she couldn't hear him.
She locked the door with a free hand and put her key away in her pocket.
"Fucking cold!" she hissed for what felt like the umpteenth time that week. She hadn't gotten a jacket with her. It looked sunny and warm outside, but of course, she misjudged again and she was too lazy to go back inside and get something warmer. She pulled on her sneakers and made her way to the forest.
She wasn't one to believe in ghosts, but she had been feeling strange in her own home lately, like she was being watched. It might have been paranoia- another side effect of one of her pills, but then she started stumbling upon "cold spots". She knew what they were. She'd read about them in books, and though she didn't believe, she felt almost panicky and wanted to get out of the house. She needed to clear her mind, anyway.
Unconsciously, she began searching for tracks in the mud as soon as she got in the forest. Jack watched her, idly strolling beside her while he randomly frosted over leaves and trunks of different trees. Eventually getting even more bored, he beckoned for the wind to take him up to the tree canopy, where he followed Maleya at a leisurely pace, gliding from tree to tree.
She spent three hours outside. Three hours. And while he saw that she'd enjoyed herself, he was only feeling more and more frustrated. This new "mission" of his felt constricting and he didn't know how long it would take before he lost it and complained to North. It wasn't fair that Bunny and he had been stuck with this mundane task. He almost wished he hadn't sent Baby Tooth away so he could go say hello to Jamie and his friends at school.
Maleya was heading home, after spending far too much time studying some animal tracks than Jack would have liked. However, while he lazily hovered from branch to branch, he caught site of two perked up ears down below.
"Bunny!" Jack cried, almost excited at the sight of the nervous rabbit. On cue, Bunny jumped slightly, caught off guard by Jack's voice.
"There you are, ya bloke! Was worried you left the gal to walk on her own," Bunny greeted in an almost scornful tone, keeping an eye on Maleya.
"Nope, I've been doing my job," He grinned widely, walking with Bunny a few steps behind the girl.
"Listen, kid. I'm having some trouble back at the Warren. The plants are doing so good, so I was wondering if you could do a double shift?" Bunny asked, and Jack thought he'd dislocated his jaw from opening it so much.
"What?!" He screeched. "Another two days? With her?" He asked, pointing his staff at the girl's direction. She was puffing on her sixth cigarette.
"What's the problem?" Bunny asked, raising an eyebrow at him and then looking back at Maleya.
"I'm going to rip my hair out in boredom! She sleeps all day and then does nothing fun! I don't think I can stand my own shift, let alone taking one of yours!" He complained, but Bunny shrugged.
"Sorry, lad. It's for a good cause. Plus, I can take a double when things settle down," he looked around suddenly. "Crikey! I'm surprised you haven't had a snowstorm hit this place yet!"
That made Jack's ears perk.
"A snowstorm?" he said, suddenly in deep thought.
"Oh, no, mate. Don't even go the-" Bunny started, but the idea had already taken root in Jack's head.
"She does hate the cold. And it would be a way for me to have fun…" Jack mumbled to himself, and Bunny rolled his eyes.
"I will not clean up any mess that you make! You're on your own, mate. And I pray for her sake you won't do something stupid!" And with that, he tapped his foot. "Thanks, though!" he said quickly, before jumping into the whole.
Jack sighed.
Then he saw that Maleya was almost out of site and scrambled to catch up to her, worried Bunnymund was somehow still keeping an eye on him.
Maleya was relieved to find that David was still on his way home when she got back. She caught sight of him walking down the street, his green backpack on his back.
"David!" She yelled, waving at him. He stopped when he heard his name and broke out into a huge grin when he saw her.
"Hey, Mallie!" He greeted, coming over to meet her. They met half-way across the lawn, but he froze when he saw the person behind her.
Jack Frost didn't know how to get out of this one, so he just smiled knowingly and put a finger to his lips. "Hey, David,' he greeted, looking at the kid.
David's eyes grew to the size of plates, and Mallie whipped around to see what he was looking at. There was nothing there.
"What is it, David?" She asked, turned back to look at him.
"Nothing!" he said quickly, and Mallie raised an eyebrow. She didn't believe him, but she'd let it slide.
For now.
"Aw, the tooth fairy isn't here!" David frowned, looking around the place.
"That was Baby Tooth," Jack tried to explain, just as Maleya said: "I'm sure she'll be back." Jack nodded at her statement.
"I'm starving!" David suddenly cried, grabbing one of Maleya's hands and dragging her towards the house. Maleya complied, following him to the front door. While she took out the key to unlock the door, David took a few steps back before he whispered: "You're Jack Frost, aren't you?" Jack nodded in reply, and then grinned when he saw the look of pure joy on his face. He knew the kid was bursting to scream, but he tried to swallow his happiness down and then asked: "Mallie can't see you?"
He almost sounded sad, but Jack shook his head. "No. She doesn't believe," he said quietly, almost as though he was afraid Maleya would hear him, too.
"David?" Maleya's voice piped up from beyond the living room. She was in the kitchen. David hurried inside and when Jack was in, too, he closed the door and put down his backpack.
"How was school?" Maleya asked as she warmed some leftovers from last night. She realized she was a bit hungry as well, so she put a smaller serving on a different plate, ready to be heated up.
David helped set the table. "It was alright," he said, rather unenthusiastically. "Not as good as yesterday. And math is so boring! I hate math!" he suddenly explained, and Maleya smiled at him with understanding.
"I know, honey. I hate it, too. I almost feel bad when I know you'll have to study the same things I am when you're in my grade," she said, before turning to the microwave to take out his food.
The statement made David frown so much she almost couldn't see his eyes from under his eyebrows. In an instant, however, his expression was replaced with a grin.
"I saw Jamie, though! And we walked home from school together!" He said, sitting down as Maleya put his plate in front of him. She put her own dish in the microwave.
"Really? Are you guys going to hang out today?"
"I was gonna ask you if it was okay. Can I, Mallie? Pleaaaase?" he pleaded, and she laughed lightly.
"Of course you can. His place or ours?" she asked, and he played with his spaghetti using a fork.
"I was sort of thinking I could go there…?" he turned his sentence into a question at the end, and she nodded.
"That's fine. Should I come with, or will Mrs Bennett be there?" she asked, and David shook his head.
"Mrs Bennett is home so you don't need to!" he said quickly through a mouth full of spaghetti.
"Aw, Dave! Don't talk with your mouth open! It's gross!" Though she was scolding him, her tone was playful and she was even trying not to laugh at him. She set her now warmed plate of spaghetti on the table and sat in front of him.
"And we were thinking about going out to look for flying toads this weekend! Jamie said he read that we were pretty close to where a man saw them! It said so in his magazine!"
"That sounds like fun. And if you're up for it, I wouldn't mind taking you guys out for a hike on Sunday," Maleya offered, and Dave smiled up at her.
"Really?" he asked, and she nodded.
"Yeah, sure! I wouldn't mind that at all," she repeated, and he beamed at her.
"That would be awesome! I don't think mommy or Jamie's mom would be happy with us going too far in the forest otherwise," he said, and Maleya nodded.
"No, I wouldn't think so, either," she agreed, finishing her small portion quite easily. She felt much better today than she did yesterday, and she was happy that she had at least some kind of appetite today.
The meal continued with anticipation high in the air. Maleya was looking forward to some quiet hours alone in the house while David could not wait to hang out with Jamie.
Maleya insisted on cleaning up after they ate and gave David permission to go wash up and get ready to head to Jamie's. David did not protest at all and scrambled to get ready before heading out. She saw him pause for a few minutes by the door, but a few moments later he yelled his goodbyes and slammed the door accidentally with his enthusiasm.
Maleya sighed with relief before heading upstairs to her bedroom. She pulled on her warmest jumped- which was a deep maroon- and then grabbed a blanket from her closet.
Jack was close behind, watching her. David, her brother, had stopped before going to Jamie's and asked if he'd be staying for a while. Once Jack had assured him he would without delving into details about why, the kid had left and Jack wished with all his being that he could join them. It would have been much more fun that sitting around and watch Maleya study.
When Melaya went to sit on her balcony after cleaning up the kitchen, with a thick book and some freshly burning coal on her water pipe, Jack took his chance.
Since the kids were playing outside on Jamie's backyard, he could spend time with them while Melaya was consumed with her reading.
Jamie had welcomed him with a surprised shout of glee. Abby was running wild in the background, picking up toys and dropping them randomly, only to pick something else up. Little Sophie was indoors taking a nap, having had a long day at her nursery.
"I can't believe it's really Jack Frost!" David had exclaimed. Jamie had grinned at him knowingly.
"Of course, it is! I told you he was real didn't I?"
Jack felt a wave of joy wash over him at the prospect of having met another believer. Sure, he could still count his believers on his hands, but at least they were growing in number. He could already feel a new surge of power rush through his body- the good side of being a Guardian.
"But, wait-" David suddenly frowned. "How come you and um… Baby Tooth, was it?" At a nod from Jack, he continued. "How come you're both hanging around my place so much?" David asked.
Jamie looked from David to Jack questioningly.
"Well, see, David… It hasn't just been us. Bunny's been around a bit, too," Jack began, smiling at the kid. "We've been given a mission. The details are a bit fuzzy, but we're supposed to watch over your sister?"
"What, like a personal Guardian?" Jamie asked in disbelief. "That's no fair! I want that, too!" He complained, which made Jack laugh.
"Think of it this way: I get to spend more time hanging out with you, don't I?" Jack said, hoping Jamie wasn't too upset over not having a "personal Guardian".
"Yeah, you're right," Jamie said gleefully, throwing a ball which Abby ran to bring back. "That's pretty cool, too!"
"I can't believe it! Will I get to see Bunny too?" He asked, looking at Jack.
"Probably. But I wouldn't get so excited about that. He's not all that great," Jack replied playfully and Jamie rolled his eyes.
"I'm pretty sure Sophie thinks so," Jamie said quietly, throwing a ball towards David, who caught it without thinking. "So what's so special about Mallie that she needs three guardians?"
Jack smiled at Jamie's tone. Years of reading crypto-zoological magazines had given him some sort of "know-it-all" attitude that he'd often used when trying to defend his claims. He proceeded to tell them about the Thesan theory. He didn't think North would mind, since he hadn't mentioned anything about keeping the theory quiet.
It was a lot to digest for the boys, who didn't really know what to make of it. How could Mallie- especially Mallie- be someone important like that? Eventually, Jamie promised to help Jack in whatever way he could.
"Well, getting her to believe would be helpful," Jack noted, more to himself. "I don't really know how she can help us if she doesn't even know we exist."
Jamie and David shared a look, before grinning at the Guardian. "I'm sure we can help you out with that!" David told him, grinning wide. Jack thought he could almost see mischief in the glint of the boy's eyes.
"Oh, yeah?" he asked, liking the sound of this.
"Yeah!" Jamie replied enthusiastically. "Though I can't think of something right now, I'll come up with a plan for you," he replied methodologically.
"You should freak her out!" David laughed. "Leave little frost notes for her. I'm sure it'll drive her crazy!"
Jack laughed as well. "I don't think it would make her believe though. She'd just turn extremely paranoid."
And so, the next two hours were spent with them trying to hatch a plan to get Maleya to believe in him. Jack made sure to keep an eye out on her, just in case she decided to go back inside. Eventually, she did, and Jack had to bid his Jamie and his new believer goodbye.
A/N: Jesus, sorry it took so long to update. Finished school last week and boyfriend came to visit from France (haven't seen him in 3 months...). It's currently 6:15 am and I've been doing laundry since 2 =D. I'm heading off to Berlin on Sunday and won't be back till the 26th, so I figured I'd update now since I won't be able to for a while.
Hope this chapter was worth the wait. A lot's gonna happen in the next chapter, I can tell you that ;] Please do review! I love hearing your opinions. I know there's a lot of questions to be answered, but I'm trying to take my time with everything! Big hugs!